ways to take weight off the cobra???
- Thread starter bhollie
- Start date
jack, spare, tubular front end, solid rear axle
1. Jack and lugwrench: 6.0lbs
2. Spare tire and hold-down: 27.0lbs
3. Stock battery: 37.5lbs
4. Rear seat: 37.0lbs
5. Rear seatbelts: 5.0lbs
6. Supercharger pulley guard: 2.0lbs
7. Differential weight: 7.5lbs
8. Mach460 head unit: 5.5lbs
9. Mach460 rear enclosure w/amps: 22.0lbs
10. Mach460 front speakers: 5.0lbs
11. Front driver seat: 62.0lbs
12. Front passenger seat: 43.0lbs
2. Spare tire and hold-down: 27.0lbs
3. Stock battery: 37.5lbs
4. Rear seat: 37.0lbs
5. Rear seatbelts: 5.0lbs
6. Supercharger pulley guard: 2.0lbs
7. Differential weight: 7.5lbs
8. Mach460 head unit: 5.5lbs
9. Mach460 rear enclosure w/amps: 22.0lbs
10. Mach460 front speakers: 5.0lbs
11. Front driver seat: 62.0lbs
12. Front passenger seat: 43.0lbs
damn, that front drivers seat is no joke. Might have to ditch those 2.
Oh yeah, and when you say the stock battery weighs 37.5 lbs, what is the lightest but just as good as stock battery I can buy?
13. IRS to SRA swap: saves 120lbs
14. Coilovers: saves 30lbs
15. Tubular Front End: saves 30-45lbs
16. NPI CF Hood (8lb'er): saves approx. 30lbs
17. Aluminum Block: saves 90lbs
18. Lightweight Rims: saves approx. 40lbs
so just by switching to a solid axle, putting sparco racing seats, and a rear seat delete kit, I could drop almost 250 lbs off the car, eh?
-Ryan
-Ryan
More like 210lbs... the front seats weigh in at 100lbs combined, but you still need to add the weight of the seats you're replacing them with
On my 99, there was an 85 lb weight difference between the IRS and live axle, not 120 lbs. Is the 03/04 IRS that much heavier? Seems to be a lot.
Seats...the new seats look awesome, but I don't particularly care for them. It is likely I'll be selling my stockers and getting some lighter, manual seats....perhaps from a newer V6 or something aftermarket. Between that and a rear seat delete (and I never use the rear seat), there is likely a net savings of nearly 100 lbs. My 99 saved ~30 lbs with the rear seat delete and ~50 lbs with the manual cloth seats I had in it.
An ultra-lightweight 8 lb hood is not really practical on a street car. They are flimsy, and required to be pinned down - not fun when you have to check the oil or do whatever. A more reasonable replacement hood - such as those from HO Fibertrends - will net you about 15-20 lbs of weight savings.
As for batteries...if you want "just as good", you're going to have to live with just as heavy....or at least within a few lbs. I ran a Dynobatt (or generic equivalent) in my 99 for years. Net weight savings was ~25 lbs, and it started the car just fine. The caveat is that it has very little reserve, meaning you can't leave ANYTHING on for any length of time once the engine is turned off. It also usually needed a quick charge if it sat for over a week without starting the car.
Another thing I did with the 99 is replace the stock front brakes with a set of Baer Serious Street brakes. These are essentially early 90's C4 Vette brakes. They are about 10 lbs lighter than stock, and allowed my 15x4 Centerlines to go on with no spacers and no grinding of the calipers. The Centerlines themselves were worth almost 50 lbs of weight savings over the stock 17x8 rims on the 99s.
I replaced the stock Mach 460 setup with an aftermarket head unit and speakers. I'm not into the big "boom boom" thing, so a middle-of-the-road Alpine did me just fine. It also freed up space in the radio area for a set of real guages. With the 03/04s, the radio/cd is one big unit, so installation of something like that is going to be a bit more difficult.
Seats...the new seats look awesome, but I don't particularly care for them. It is likely I'll be selling my stockers and getting some lighter, manual seats....perhaps from a newer V6 or something aftermarket. Between that and a rear seat delete (and I never use the rear seat), there is likely a net savings of nearly 100 lbs. My 99 saved ~30 lbs with the rear seat delete and ~50 lbs with the manual cloth seats I had in it.
An ultra-lightweight 8 lb hood is not really practical on a street car. They are flimsy, and required to be pinned down - not fun when you have to check the oil or do whatever. A more reasonable replacement hood - such as those from HO Fibertrends - will net you about 15-20 lbs of weight savings.
As for batteries...if you want "just as good", you're going to have to live with just as heavy....or at least within a few lbs. I ran a Dynobatt (or generic equivalent) in my 99 for years. Net weight savings was ~25 lbs, and it started the car just fine. The caveat is that it has very little reserve, meaning you can't leave ANYTHING on for any length of time once the engine is turned off. It also usually needed a quick charge if it sat for over a week without starting the car.
Another thing I did with the 99 is replace the stock front brakes with a set of Baer Serious Street brakes. These are essentially early 90's C4 Vette brakes. They are about 10 lbs lighter than stock, and allowed my 15x4 Centerlines to go on with no spacers and no grinding of the calipers. The Centerlines themselves were worth almost 50 lbs of weight savings over the stock 17x8 rims on the 99s.
I replaced the stock Mach 460 setup with an aftermarket head unit and speakers. I'm not into the big "boom boom" thing, so a middle-of-the-road Alpine did me just fine. It also freed up space in the radio area for a set of real guages. With the 03/04s, the radio/cd is one big unit, so installation of something like that is going to be a bit more difficult.
yea u are right. what is done to my car...
rear seat delete (seatbelts n everything)
recaro seats
solid rear axle
3360 STREET weight. this is a 270lbs LOSS and i also have 10.5" rims out back with 335 which added prolly 20-30lbs
at the track i use pro stars and the race weight is
3260 TRACK
yes the weld skinny and rim setup saved 100lbs!
the actual weight drop form these mods is a lot more than people think :rockon:
Could you post a link to the seats you have? Did you weigh the stockers and compare to the Recaros?
Thanks.
Bob
Thanks.
Bob
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I have a Hawker oddessy battery weight is 8.7lbs...it is incorporated into my custom aluminum intercooler resevoir tho...it has form and function....no charging issues either so far.
Jay
ps Race buck nekked with a tinfoil helmet....saves 30lbs..lol
Jay
ps Race buck nekked with a tinfoil helmet....saves 30lbs..lol
Hi All,
Here is my solution to the weight problem on my Cobra.
Here is my solution to the weight problem on my Cobra.
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I can't get that extreme and caught up with trying to lighten the car. I mean removing the backseat and removing the front seats to replace them with some bulls**t just because it's lighter. The seats are about the only good thing that comes stock on the interior. I say don't really worry about the weight and just overcome it with more hp. Trying to remove weight that is ricer s*#t. I like the fact that I beat down a Vette going up hill with three passengers in the car. With two pax in the back the car probably hooked better.
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I recently added 200 sq ft of sound deadener, lol. weight gain.
two words: hole saw
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